Life Alternate » home solar energy

Cooling With Solar Powered Air Conditioners

Wispa — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:36:17 +0000

Air-conditioning is an energy hungry machine and offers itself for an ideal candidate for being solar powered. Now there is a chance to cool down with the heat of the sun thanks to the worlds largest manufacture of air condition units.

Using solar power to power our devices has already taken a strong foothold in our every day lives. Most of the practical applications have taken place in small electronic devices that do not have many moving parts.

Now Gree Electrical Appliances, a Chinese Company, will start to mass produce Solar Powered Air Conditioning Units initially aimed at the American Market. The first design will be duel powered, taking energy from the sun and being able to switch to your utility supply when the Solar output is not enough.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that we most need cooling when the sun is shines brightly in the summer months. This also happen to be the time when using solar energy works as it’s most efficient.

Energy costs go up when there is more demand and what ever you can do to reduce that dependence is going to save you a bit of money on your bills. Depending on your location, up to 10% of your energy usage could be down to cooling the air in your home. If your Air conditioning using can use free solar energy then that is a big saving.

Solar Panels Cost to Drop

Wispa — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:08:00 +0000

The price of photovoltaic solar panels has always been a large hurdle for anyone thinking about converting to solar energy. Both for commercial applications and home owners this could be soon a thing of the past.

As large scare production starts to take off there have been excess and lack of demand and scarcity of raw material which has made the price bounce around, usually just out of reach of those wishing to produce cheaper clean solar energy.

Rooftop Solar Panel

Now that efficiency in producing the raw materials, like polysilicon, along a more predictable demand the price you pay has started to drop to levels that become affordable and realistic. Already the price has dropped by nearly 50 percent in just over a year. The future years should see more price drops as the manufacturing processes mature. This along with the technology of improvements in efficiency will make those polysilicon panels both cheaper and smaller.

One of the main factors in commercially producing solar energy was the need to cover a large area of land with solar panels. More efficient panels will make the required area smaller and much easier to pass all those bureaucratic and sometimes green hurdles that slow down solar installations.

Most countries around the world who have embraced renewable energy have been offering Solar Incentives in some form. For solar power generating companies this came in the form as a price guarantee for every kilowatt of energy fed in the the grid. At home it arrived as price reducing grants allowing cheaper installation for home owners.

These are becoming less as the money starts to dry up and the incentives end. The intention of kick-starting the solar business may have just worked enough to mature the business.

Solar Powered Roof Tiles For your Home

Wispa — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Think of generating energy in your home and you will most likely imagine solar panels, Large rectangular shiny plates adorning your roof. For some residences this might be unsightly and dissuade you from the idea of installing photovoltaic solar panels in your home. If you could just make them fit in more with the look and style them maybe you would be tempted to use clean solar energy.

How about a roof tile that generates clean photovoltaic solar energy, a solar roof tile. Well that appears to be what is happening with a company, SRS Energy. They claim to be developing a soar roof tile that can power your home and does not spoil the appearance of your residence.

Looking like a clay roof time, these solar tiles curved and have a Mediterranean look to them. The technology behind them has made each tile independent, that means if a tile happens to become faulty, dislodged or broken then it will not bring down the whole solar system.

The tiles themselves come in quite large with each one being 37 inches wide and 18 inches in length. With around 30 tiles needed to cover and area of 100 square feet this would put a load of 240 lbs on your roof. Due to the tile overlap that is needed this leaves about 15 inches of each tile left for exposure to sunlight. From this the company says that a typical energy output would be around 850 kilowatts with a daily 6 hour exposure to sunlight.

Green Living

Like other solar panels systems, this can have the ability, as well as generating clean electricity for your home, Store any excess for use when it is dark or you need that extra bit of demand. Spare electrical energy can be reintroduced back in the the power grid and thus earning you money or credits from your electrical utility supplier.

Currently, the SRS tiles come in blue and blue. Yes just one color, this they say is due to the limits of the production process used in make the solar roof tiles. In the future, once developments are made, a wide range of colors should be available.

The availability of solar roof tiles is quite small as it is still a new area and mostly in development, Photovoltaic solar panels are more common, becoming more efficient and are really not that unsightly, These new solar roof tiles are an option if appearance is really important and you like the color blue.

Cheap Solar Energy

Wispa — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:05:12 +0000

Solar Power systems without a doubt are a fabulous environmentally way to save money on your energy costs, Although the initial upfront prices are sometimes quite high and a lot of people like yourself may feel that this is too much to pay and decide to put the idea off for another day.

A San Fransisco company has realized this and they have devised a solution that may make you think again about solar energy for your residence.

Instead of paying maybe up to US$20,000 for the installation of a solar system. The company, SunRun, will just ask for around US$1,000. But before you get too excited at that price, you should know just what is on offer here.

For this price, SunRun will install solar panels on your home and also take care of any ongoing maintenance and repair that may be needed. In return, you will be able to buy the electricity generated for a much reduced price than you would pay your utility. Paying on average only 13 cents instead of 30 cents you would be saving more than 50% percent on your electrical usage.

Rooftop Solar Panel

This is not a short term solution. An 18 year contract is required and some may think that is too long, but as energy rates will no doubt increase dramatically in 5 or 10 years, you will still be paying the same cheap rate for any energy you use that is generated by your solar panels. If 18 years is a long time, think about how long you will be paying your electrical company for electrical power. A lifetime.

This is a quick, low cost and of course environmentally friendly way in to solar and an easy way to start saving that precious money. To sum it all up, you get cheap electricity for letting the company use your roof to install their solar panels, which is actually an idea that may be a viable option to many of you.

The company operates in California, Arizona and Massachusetts. Other Companies may offer this type of cheap solar energy installation in other states and have companies offering similar solutions.

Why Should I use Solar Energy

Wispa — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:02:19 +0000

Why Should You Use Solar Energy?

The answers are all around us, nature has a tendency to develop the most efficient ways of the environment work. All the flowers and trees around us grow with the suns energy. The vegetables you eat are ripened by the sun. When it rains, that is the product of evaporation of the seas into clouds caused by the sun. So its all around us and if nature has decided to make use of solar then so can we.

Every day of the year, the Sun is pouring Solar Energy towards us for free, it`s about time that you took up this offer for your own benefit.

Every time a utility bill arrives you sigh and hand over you hard earned money. With Solar Energy you can reduce the size of your energy bill and quite possibly even eradicate them all together. But it just doesn’t stop there, your utility companies might even pay you!, Yes they could give you money in exchange for your unused Solar Power.

Doing it Yourself

A word of caution, if you try to save even more money by buying DIY solar systems kits these might just cost you a lot more than you think or not produce the power that you expected. Professionally installed and maintained solar systems by qualified technicians will most likely cost you much less in the long run and you have the added bonus of a warranty should there be the slightest chance of anything going wrong. If you are technically minded or have children, DIY solar can be fun and educational, but remember projects can get hot. For larger ideas, research more and just don`t jump in with the promise of zero utility bills.

What type of Solar is for me?

You have a lot of factors to take in to account about your current home energy use, your home location and the types of solar products that you can install in or around your home. Search out solar system installers in your area, look around your neighborhood and see who has already installed solar energy systems (although this might not be obvious as some can be very unobtrusive), try knocking on a few doors and asking the home owners about their systems. By doing this you can get a feel of what is possible and realistic for your own home before you take up the opportunity of installing solar for your own home.

Hot Water Shower

Not every solar system designs are the same and they are not just restricted to large plates of solar panels, often called solar Photovoltaic panels. The most common thought is for producing electricity and this is probably the most versatile, but you can also use the suns solar energy to heat water for washing or to heat your home. As we investigate more options we can even use solar to cool your home, along with solar devices such as flashlights, radios, chargers and even solar ovens.

As we move out of your home, your car could be solar powered, your mobile phone, in fact the list is growing every day and remember all this energy is free and natural.